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Leaving Warner Springs

After leaving Warner Springs, we climbed up into the mountains to trail angel Mike Hererra’s house. The hike was long and hot, with hardly any wind. I developed a rash from the Warner Springs laundry detergent, and felt pretty exhausted by the time we made to Mike’s. There we refilled our water, got a Tecate, set up our tent, and were fed dinner. They were very conscious of vegetarians, and out Boca Burger crumbles in our spaghetti instead of meat. Thanks!

The mountains that morning

Sign outside of Mike Herrera’s

The next day we dropped back into the desert. It was another vey hot long day, but we took a long lunch break at a water source that had shade. This water source had a hose to get our water, so it was easy and convenient! I even soaked my hair to help cool down. There were multiple hikers hanging out, trying to beat the heat. It was probably one of the hottest days so far. We pushed up some mountains, and a mile before we stopped for the night, I was getting really tired. The path had lots of black sticks, and I totally hit one while walking, except this stick moved! It wasn’t a stick after all.. It was a snake! He was big, and very wiggly and snake like. It startled me so much a started to cry. It wasn’t a rattlesnake, and I’m not even scared of snakes because I’ve seen so many. I was just super startled.

Snacks

Trying to stay cool

We found a wonderful spot to camp that night on a ridge between some boulders. It was my favorite spot we’ve camped so far. It was warm that night, and the sunset was beautiful. We made mac n cheese with “chicken” and some Tapatio.

The next morning we only had to hike about 8 miles to the famous Paradise Valley Cafe. Two bikers out on the patio were amazed by our packs, and asked us lots of questions. They thought what we were doing was so neat. One of he bikers mentioned a tattoo he got with his daughter, and it said “embrace the journey of life.” I felt a warming in my heart, because on my mom’s memorial we have engraved a saying she loved, “embrace the journey.” I didn’t tell the biker how happy it made me, but I felt my moms presence, and it was really nice. Lingo and I went inside to eat. He got the Jose Burger with a veggie patty, and jalapeños, and I got a burger with chutney and chipotle mayo. Yum! We signed the PCT log book. The plan was to hitch into Idyllwild because of a trail closure due to a bad fire. Upon leaving to go hitch a ride, a really sweet couple offered to drive us! They were very friendly, and we had a great conversation while they drove us to Idyllwild. Thanks James and Phyllis!